Discovery BoxGenesis 8:1-22
Context8:1 But God remembered 1 Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over 2 the earth and the waters receded. 8:2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, 3 and the rain stopped falling from the sky. 8:3 The waters kept receding steadily 4 from the earth, so that they 5 had gone down 6 by the end of the 150 days. 8:4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat. 7 8:5 The waters kept on receding 8 until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible. 9
8:6 At the end of forty days, 10 Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 11 8:7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying 12 back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.
8:8 Then Noah 13 sent out a dove 14 to see if the waters had receded 15 from the surface of the ground. 8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered 16 the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah 17 in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, 18 and brought it back into the ark. 19 8:10 He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark. 8:11 When 20 the dove returned to him in the evening, there was 21 a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 8:12 He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, 22 but it did not return to him this time. 23
8:13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year, 24 in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that 25 the surface of the ground was dry. 8:14 And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth 26 was dry.
8:15 Then God spoke to Noah and said, 8:16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 8:17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out 27 every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase 28 and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!” 29
8:18 Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 8:19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.
8:20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 30 8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma 31 and said 32 to himself, 33 “I will never again curse 34 the ground because of humankind, even though 35 the inclination of their minds 36 is evil from childhood on. 37 I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.
8:22 “While the earth continues to exist, 38
planting time 39 and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
and day and night will not cease.”
Genesis 30:23-38
Context30:23 She became pregnant 40 and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” 41 30:24 She named him Joseph, 42 saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”
30:25 After Rachel had given birth 43 to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send 44 me on my way so that I can go 45 home to my own country. 46 30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. 47 Then I’ll depart, 48 because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” 49
30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, 50 for I have learned by divination 51 that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.” 30:28 He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatever you want.” 52
30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, 53 “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. 54 30:30 Indeed, 55 you had little before I arrived, 56 but now your possessions have increased many times over. 57 The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. 58 But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” 59
30:31 So Laban asked, 60 “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” 61 Jacob replied, 62 “but if you agree to this one condition, 63 I will continue to care for 64 your flocks and protect them: 30:32 Let me walk among 65 all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, 66 and the spotted or speckled goats. 67 These animals will be my wages. 68 30:33 My integrity will testify for me 69 later on. 70 When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, 71 if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” 72 30:34 “Agreed!” said Laban, “It will be as you say.” 73
30:35 So that day Laban 74 removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care 75 of his sons. 30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, 76 while 77 Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.
30:37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. 30:38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. 78
[8:1] 1 tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).
[8:1] 2 tn Heb “to pass over.”
[8:2] 3 tn Some (e.g., NIV) translate the preterite verb forms in this verse as past perfects (e.g., “had been closed”), for it seems likely that the sources of the water would have stopped before the waters receded.
[8:3] 4 tn The construction combines a Qal preterite from שׁוּב (shuv) with its infinitive absolute to indicate continuous action. The infinitive absolute from הָלָךְ (halakh) is included for emphasis: “the waters returned…going and returning.”
[8:3] 5 tn Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:3] 6 tn The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.
[8:4] 7 tn Heb “on the mountains of Ararat.” Obviously a boat (even one as large as the ark) cannot rest on multiple mountains. Perhaps (1) the preposition should be translated “among,” or (2) the plural “mountains” should be understood in the sense of “mountain range” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 53). A more probable option (3) is that the plural indicates an indefinite singular, translated “one of the mountains” (see GKC 400 §124.o).
[8:5] 8 tn Heb “the waters were going and lessening.” The perfect verb form הָיָה (hayah) is used as an auxiliary verb with the infinitive absolute חָסוֹר (khasor, “lessening”), while the infinitive absolute הָלוֹךְ (halokh) indicates continuous action.
[8:5] 9 tn Or “could be seen.”
[8:6] 10 tn The introductory verbal form וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), traditionally rendered “and it came to pass,” serves as a temporal indicator and has not been translated here.
[8:6] 11 tn Heb “opened the window in the ark which he had made.” The perfect tense (“had made”) refers to action preceding the opening of the window, and is therefore rendered as a past perfect. Since in English “had made” could refer to either the ark or the window, the order of the phrases was reversed in the translation to clarify that the window is the referent.
[8:7] 12 tn Heb “and it went out, going out and returning.” The Hebrew verb יָצָא (yatsa’), translated here “flying,” is modified by two infinitives absolute indicating that the raven went back and forth.
[8:8] 13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:8] 14 tn The Hebrew text adds “from him.” This has not been translated for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
[8:8] 15 tn The Hebrew verb קָלָל (qalal) normally means “to be light, to be slight”; it refers here to the waters receding.
[8:9] 16 tn The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:9] 17 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 18 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:9] 19 tn Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”
[8:11] 20 tn The clause introduced by vav (ו) consecutive is translated as a temporal clause subordinated to the following clause.
[8:11] 21 tn The deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to the olive leaf. It invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the olive leaf with their own eyes.
[8:12] 22 tn The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:12] 23 tn Heb “it did not again return to him still.” For a study of this section of the flood narrative, see W. O. E. Oesterley, “The Dove with the Olive Leaf (Gen VIII 8–11),” ExpTim 18 (1906/07): 377-78.
[8:13] 24 tn Heb In the six hundred and first year.” Since this refers to the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, the word “Noah’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:13] 25 tn Heb “and saw and look.” As in v. 11, the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the dry ground with their own eyes.
[8:14] 26 tn In v. 13 the ground (הָאֲדָמָה, ha’adamah) is dry; now the earth (הָאָרֶץ, ha’arets) is dry.
[8:17] 27 tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:17] 28 tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.
[8:17] 29 tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
[8:20] 30 sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the
[8:21] 31 tn The
[8:21] 32 tn Heb “and the
[8:21] 33 tn Heb “in his heart.”
[8:21] 34 tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.
[8:21] 35 tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.
[8:21] 36 tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”
[8:21] 37 tn Heb “from his youth.”
[8:22] 38 tn Heb “yet all the days of the earth.” The idea is “[while there are] yet all the days of the earth,” meaning, “as long as the earth exists.”
[8:22] 39 tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.
[30:23] 41 tn Heb “my reproach.” A “reproach” is a cutting taunt or painful ridicule, but here it probably refers by metonymy to Rachel’s barren condition, which was considered shameful in this culture and was the reason why she was the object of taunting and ridicule.
[30:24] 42 sn The name Joseph (יוֹסֵף, yoseph) means “may he add.” The name expresses Rachel’s desire to have an additional son. In Hebrew the name sounds like the verb (אָסַף,’asasf) translated “taken away” in the earlier statement made in v. 23. So the name, while reflecting Rachel’s hope, was also a reminder that God had removed her shame.
[30:25] 43 tn The perfect verbal form is translated as a past perfect because Rachel’s giving birth to Joseph preceded Jacob’s conversation with Laban.
[30:25] 44 tn The imperatival form here expresses a request.
[30:25] 45 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[30:25] 46 tn Heb “to my place and to my land.”
[30:26] 47 tn Heb “give my wives and my children, for whom I have served you.” In one sense Laban had already “given” Jacob his two daughters as wives (Gen 29:21, 28). Here Jacob was asking for permission to take his own family along with him on the journey back to Canaan.
[30:26] 48 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
[30:26] 49 tn Heb “for you, you know my service [with] which I have served you.”
[30:27] 50 tn The words “please stay here” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[30:27] 51 tn Or perhaps “I have grown rich and the
[30:28] 52 tn Heb “set your wage for me so I may give [it].”
[30:29] 53 tn Heb “and he said to him, ‘You know how I have served you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons, and the referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:29] 54 tn Heb “and how your cattle were with me.”
[30:30] 56 tn Heb “before me.”
[30:30] 57 tn Heb “and it has broken out with respect to abundance.”
[30:30] 58 tn Heb “at my foot.”
[30:30] 59 tn Heb “How long [until] I do, also I, for my house?”
[30:31] 60 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:31] 61 tn The negated imperfect verbal form has an obligatory nuance.
[30:31] 62 tn The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:31] 63 tn Heb “If you do for me this thing.”
[30:31] 64 tn Heb “I will return, I will tend,” an idiom meaning “I will continue tending.”
[30:32] 65 tn Heb “pass through.”
[30:32] 66 tn Or “every black lamb”; Heb “and every dark sheep among the lambs.”
[30:32] 67 tn Heb “and the spotted and speckled among the goats.”
[30:32] 68 tn Heb “and it will be my wage.” The referent collective singular pronoun (“it) has been specified as “these animals” in the translation for clarity.
[30:33] 69 tn Heb “will answer on my behalf.”
[30:33] 70 tn Heb “on the following day,” or “tomorrow.”
[30:33] 71 tn Heb “when you come concerning my wage before you.”
[30:33] 72 tn Heb “every one which is not speckled and spotted among the lambs and dark among the goats, stolen it is with me.”
[30:34] 73 tn Heb “and Laban said, ‘Good, let it be according to your word.’” On the asseverative use of the particle לוּ (lu) here, see HALOT 521 s.v. לוּ.
[30:35] 74 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:35] 75 tn Heb “and he gave [them] into the hand.”
[30:36] 76 tn Heb “and he put a journey of three days between himself and Jacob.”
[30:36] 77 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the vav with subject) is circumstantial/temporal; Laban removed the animals while Jacob was taking care of the rest.
[30:38] 78 sn He put the branches in front of the flocks…when they came to drink. It was generally believed that placing such “visual aids” before the animals as they were mating, it was possible to influence the appearance of their offspring. E. A. Speiser notes that “Jacob finds a way to outwit his father-in-law, through prenatal conditioning of the flock by visual aids – in conformance with universal folk beliefs” (Genesis [AB], 238). Nevertheless, in spite of Jacob’s efforts at animal husbandry, he still attributes the resulting success to God (see 31:5).
